I think we can all agree that part of why our class cannot seem to let go of Sartre is that Existentialism is unlike anything we have studied thus far, and poses arguments that I think are more provocative than any other ethical theory. Perhaps that is the first reason – Sartre does not really establish an ethical theory, much less a sense or code of morality. Rather, our morality is one of infinite responsibility, inextricably tied into our essence, if we indeed have one, of freedom.
I thought the connection between freedom, morality, and bad faith were the most interesting parts of the essays we read. Our class struggled to understand what type of morality, if any, was determined by Sartre’s ethical theory (which was difficult to figure out itself). Ultimately, we arrived at the idea that the real question of morality for Sartre is: “What kind of existence is this?” Our existence is, necessarily and essentially, free, which means that we are responsible (immediately or infinitely) for everything in the world. This stems beyond our own actions to the choices of every other person in the world, and the state of humanity itself. I was really struck by how Sartre defines responsibility as “anything to which I could respond, I am responsible for.” So just by asking “am I somehow responsible for [insert problem]” proves that we already are. I think this is really profound, and requires us to acknowledge our responsibility for the world just by nature of existing.
The notion of infinite responsibility, however, can clearly become overwhelming to some people. Am I truly responsible for all of the horrific things in the world? I think that if we all recognized our culpability as members of humanity, it would keep us up at night with guilt and fear. However, those of us who refuse or are ignorant to this human responsibility can rely on Bad Faith. We flee from our freedom, from our essence, by lying to ourselves about the truth of our situations. Even though choosing to not choose is itself an expression of our freedom, expressing Bad Faith is a way for people to cope with the burden of responsibility.
Since our morality, for Sartre, seems to stem from our acceptance and recognition of the responsibility inherent within us as human beings, where does Bad Faith come into play? Is Bad Faith immoral, since we are trying to flee from our freedom and responsibility by lying to ourselves? I think, by Sartre’s standards, Bad Faith would be considered a type of immoral action. But at the same time, Bad Faith is still an expression of our freedom – just an attempted denial of it. Is it the case that Bad Faith is immoral, or is Sartre’s morality much more convoluted and nuanced than that?
The morality of his ethics, is definitely a problem with which the class struggles. We are constantly looking for a the morality behind what he is saying, when in fact it doesn't exist. When reading Sartre I was not able to pick up on any rules on how we should act, or what would be morally right/wrong to do. All that Sartre does is inform us of WHO we are (our existence), and WHAT that means, not HOW we should act. Our constant search for the morality in his theory is like us trying the shoe on every girl in the village in order to find Cinderella. The only difference is that in this case, Cinderella does not exist.
ReplyDeleteThis is all to say that your question is a really good question (and I am sure it is one upon which a lot of us have been pondering), because it forces us to see that there is really no answer to the question. You said it perfectly yourself, we use bad faith as a crutch to avoid all the responsibility that comes with our existence, YET bad faith IS and expression of our existence, our freedom. All that Sartre is telling us here is what bad faith IS, not whether it is moral or not.
I have just painted an overly simple view of Sartre Ethical theory, so maybe I am wrong, and maybe it is "much more convoluted and nuanced" as Jane proposed.
Nellie, thanks for the response. Glad to hear I'm not the only one with these same issues and questions. I think Existentialism is a branch of philosophy that makes people feel uneasy, so the only way to really critique it effectively is to work through those issues that make us squirm a bit. I mean, the idea of infinite responsibility really gets me almost to the point of a panic attack...you mean I'm responsible for all the evil in the world, even the ones I'm trying to stop? The ones I can't realistically stop? It's daunting to say the least.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm glad to hear your perspective on this too!